


moments, passing.

by alienanxiety



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Coffee, F/M, Fluff, They Deserve This, chris carter and i just disagree with how it should have gone, i'm not ignoring season 10, no relationship problems made up for the drama or whatever, post-IWTB, theyve gone through so much together they wouldn't just fall out of love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 03:34:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8733178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienanxiety/pseuds/alienanxiety
Summary: occasionally, she is struck by the passing of time; how quickly years go by and things change.
 scully reflects on her relationship with mulder. a poem, of a sort.





	

**Author's Note:**

> set sometime around the present day/season 10
> 
> apologies in advance for the commas and long-ass sentences i just can't help myself
> 
> this is....so fluffy and im not sorry

occasionally, she is struck by the passing of time; how quickly years go by and things change.

the only constant, the one thing she knows she can count on to never change, is him. sure, his hair is steadily getting grayer, and every year brings new wrinkles to his face, but these are just superficial details. he is, essentially, the same man she met decades ago. she depends on it.

their coffeepot is set to brew automatically in the mornings so that they don’t have to spend more time awake un-caffeinated than it takes to walk to the kitchen and pour some. regardless of this, he makes sure to get up before her so he can wake her up with a steaming mug and a cheeky grin. she always smiles back at him when he looks at her like that; it is a reflex she couldn’t stop if she wanted to.

the first time he had greeted her with coffee in bed she had been sure he was there to deliver bad news and the coffee was an offering to soften the blow. she’d braced for the worst but he had offered no explanation beyond a kiss and that smile when he said “good morning”.

for a while, she decided he did it just because he knew she was always surprised, quietly and sleepily grateful. now she knows it is because he wants to do everything in his power to make sure that she knows she is safe and loved, do everything he can to make her happy and comfortable. it is a small, unnecessary gesture. after all this time, she knows, with a certainty she has not felt about much else in her life, how he feels about her. she does not need reassurance, or romantic gestures. just his continued presence beside her. but every morning she wakes gently, a few minutes before her alarm would go off, to his familiar weight dipping the mattress beside her and the smell of fresh coffee. she sits up with a smile and thanks him with a kiss on the cheek as she accepts the warm mug. she isn’t sure she has ever felt more at peace than she does in these moments. 

he drives her crazy, of course. he always has. he never puts his clothes in the hamper, and he still squeezes the toothpaste from the wrong end. he only puts his used dishes in the dishwasher every other time, and he always forgets to leave his dirty running shoes by the door. they always disagree. sometimes he argues with her just to get a reaction, just to see if he can frustrate her. 

she often has to wake him up from where he’s fallen asleep on the couch in front of the tv and corral him to bed while he ignores her reminders about the damage he is doing to his back. neither of them is as young as they used to be.

the next morning, he will groan as he sits at the kitchen table, expecting sympathy and a shoulder massage. despite her best intentions, he always cons her out of both. she never can say no to him when he directs that pout at her, looking for all the world like a disappointed child.

sometimes she worries, even with his assurances to the contrary, that she will lose him to his demons and obsessions, which he has never been able to outrun. not because she thinks he would choose to leave her, to place her any lower than the very top of his list of priorities, but because she knows his mind. she knows he is never going to be entirely content leaving the world’s mysteries for someone else to solve. 

she knows he is never going to forgive himself for what he perceives as his failures. 

she does her best to reassure him that he is not directly or even indirectly responsible for the tragedies in their lives. sometimes he believes her. she will keep trying until he always does. she refuses to give him up to their enemies, real and imaginary, without a fight.

they go to bed pretty early these days, unless she is working late. he always waits up for her, or tries to, when she is. it is unbearably sweet, and she is overwhelmed even after years of the same, to walk in to see him waiting patiently for her return. but when she isn’t working nights they usually retire to the bedroom early. some nights they sleep curled up together. others they sleep with the entire bed stretched out between them and listen to the sounds of each other breathing; it is a reassurance they both need even now: to know that the other is alive and well only a few feet away. 

on this particular night they are both naked and sticky with sweat, but she is unwilling to move from where she is curled into his side with her head on his chest and one leg thrown over his. she is sleepy and warm, and she is not uncomfortable enough to want to roll away.

he may be asleep; his breathing is even and he hasn’t said anything for a while. “mulder,” she says, quiet so as to break their silence gently. he hums but doesn’t otherwise indicate that he has heard her. she thinks his eyes are still closed. “i love you,” she whispers. 

his arms, which are wrapped around her, squeeze her briefly. “love you too, scully,” he says, his words as soft as hers were.

she smiles, and succumbs to sleep.

**end.**

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! 
> 
> find me on tumblr as [siriusblackwasframed](http://www.siriusblackwasframed.tumblr.com)


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